It Ends With Us: The Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds Drama Explained

A major adaptation of a bestselling novel may have had competing cuts behind the scenes, according to The Hollywood Reporter, as sources tell the outlet that "It Ends With Us" star and co-executive producer Blake Lively apparently took a hands-on role behind the scenes –- with the help of a "Deadpool & Wolverine" editor. The news comes at the end of a gossip-filled week in which TikTok sleuths and others on social media have pointed out a number of unusual details about the "It Ends With Us" press tour, leading some to dub it "the new 'Don't Worry, Darling'" in terms of inexplicable, oddly multi-faceted off-screen drama.

Rumors first picked up in the wake of the New York premiere of the film, which is based on a popular book by Colleen Hoover about a woman attempting to come to terms with her abusive relationship. According to Glamour, the film's director and star, Justin Baldoni (who you may recognize as the romantic lead of "Jane The Virgin"), was not snapped in photos with his co-stars, with Lively in particular taking plenty of photos with people who weren't him.

This wouldn't be that strange on its own, but curious parties soon realized that several people involved in the making of the film, including Lively, co-stars Jenny Slate and Brandon Sklenar, and Hoover herself all don't follow Baldoni on Instagram. Though some on social media have asserted that they unfollowed the filmmaker, it's unclear which of them, if any, followed him to begin with. According to THR, though, Hoover appeared in posts to Baldoni's Instagram when the movie was being developed.

Some of these details could mean nothing, but others are certainly curious. Baldoni's podcast co-host, Liz Plank, apparently didn't pose with Baldoni at the premiere either, and the pair's "Man Enough" pod actually hasn't dropped a new episode since June. Perhaps most strangely, Slate pretty pointedly avoided the question when asked about Baldoni on the red carpet, instead giving Deadline an impressively creative non-answer.

Though all of these observations would seem to point to a purposeful shunning of Baldoni, news reports have since surfaced indicating that the behind-the-scenes tension has as much to do with Lively –- and possibly her husband, Ryan Reynolds –- as with the director. THR reports that Lively made her own version of "It Ends With Us" with help from "Deadpool & Wolverine" editor Shane Reid. The outlet notes that we don't know which parts, if any, of this cut were used in the theatrical version, which credits its editing to Robb Sullivan and Oona Flaherty. Sources also told Hollywood blog InSneider a similar story, with one alleging that Lively and Reynolds "basically took over the movie and buddied up to author Colleen Hoover to see that their cut won." A source also told that outlet that Baldoni's cut of the film scored higher with test audiences.

While both Lively's and Baldoni's reps declined to comment to THR, they've both mentioned Lively's hands-on approach to the movie before. Lively recently told E! that Reynolds actually wrote a pivotal scene in the film, despite official script credit going to "I Am Not Okay With This" co-creator Christy Hall. "We help each other," Lively told the outlet. "He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does." Baldoni also recently praised Lively on the TODAY show, saying, "She is a dynamic creative. She had her hands in every part of this production, and everything she touched made better."

Lively seems to be a bit guarded in press conversations about her and Reynolds' uncredited writing endeavors. After telling E! about his contribution to "This Ends With Us," she said, "Nobody knows that but you now." In a Vogue profile released earlier this week, interviewer Andrew Sean Greer says that Lively's eyes narrowed when he asked her about screenwriting, and she asked him, "Why did you ask about writing?" She does open up about her process in that piece, though, admitting, "A blank page is not nearly as exciting to [her] as starting with a script and finding something people have overlooked."

It's unclear whether there's actually bad blood between any of these people, or if this is simply a typical (but especially dramatic) story of the production power shifts that happen all too often in Hollywood, but clearly something went down behind the scenes. Though speculation is rampant across social media (one heavily circulated uninformed item shared by TikTok's Jenna Redfield claims that Lively wanted the film to be her path to the Oscars), it's worth noting that we just don't have all the facts at this time, and it's probably worth resisting the urge to paint any one person as a "villain" in this story before a single party involved has spoken up about it.

It's also worth noting that despite its poor critical reception, "It Ends With Us" is a movie that deals with extremely serious issues that affect at least one in four women in the United States. The making of the movie was no doubt a sensitive process for all involved, and it's likely that, given this context, we'll never know every personal motivating factor that led to the weird drama we're witnessing now. This isn't as fun a conclusion to draw as the latest wild TikTok theory, but it's the truth.

"It Ends With Us" is now in theaters.